More about my new book!

My new book, The Quilter’s Negative Space Handbook, will be coming out next month and I’m really excited to tell you a little bit more about it!

The inspiration for this book originally came about when my local traditional quilt guild asked me to give them a lecture about negative space. I had previously given a talk to them about modern quilting and all its characteristics, and a number of members were particularly intrigued by this idea of negative space, and wanted to hear more about it.

I didn’t really know what to say when I agreed to give the talk, but after thinking about it for a little bit, I realized that these quilters were probably a little intimidated by the idea of big open spaces on their quilts, and that what they needed was some concrete design guidance, so I put together a few step-by-step diagrams to show how to go from a traditional quilt block to a modern quilt, and everyone seemed to find that very interesting.

What was even more interesting, though, was that in making these step-by-step diagrams, I came up with multiple designs that I really, really wanted to make, and in fact a couple of them turned into finished quilts not too long after:

At that point, I realized that this worked, because before this presentation, I’d occasionally sit around very bored in my sewing space because I wanted to sew but couldn’t think of anything I wanted to make and inspiration just wasn’t striking. So, I thought about it all some more, and in the end I came up with eight design concepts to take you from a traditional quilt block (or, in one case, a quilt in a traditional layout) to a modern quilt full of negative space. For example, disintegration, which is perhaps my favorite technique!

Of course, I’ve included a project for every chapter, so if you’re not ready to jump straight into designing your own, you can sew some of the included quilts first! Here’s a sneak peek at a few of the included patterns:

Once you’ve designed your masterpiece, you’ll need to think about fabric choices, how to actually put the thing together, and, eventually, quilting choices, so I’ve included lots of food for thought on those topics as well. If you’re new to designing modern quilts, I hope you’ll find the process demystified—and if you’re an old pro, I hope you’ll find some new ideas here!

If you’d like to get a signed copy, you can preorder a copy from me here (if you’re in the US)! You can also ask your local quilt shop to order it for you, if you’d like to support them.